Growth & Development of A Preschooler

Preschooler period (3 – 5 years old)
Growth – Slows & stabilizes

Weight
 Average weight of 3-year-old is 14.5 kg (32 lbs)
 Average weight of 4-year-old is 16.5 kg (36.5 lbs)
 Average weight of 5-year-old is 18.5 kg (41 lbs)
*Weight increases 2 - 3 kg / year (4.5 – 6.5 lbs)*
Height
 Increases to 6.5 – 9 cm (2.5 – 3.5 inches) per year
 Legs increase in length and not trunk
 Average height of 3-year-old is 95 cm (37.5 inches)
Posture
 Slender, graceful and postural erect
Maturation of systems
 Muscle development and bone growth are still immature
Gross & Fine motor skills

Age Gross Motor Fine Motor Age Gross Motor Fine Motor
3 years  Walking,  Shape 4  Skips  Pictorial
Running. stage then year  Hops on stage
Climbing design s one-foot  Can draw
and stage  Catches a circle and
Jumping immediately ball adds facial
well after features
 Can ride a  Copies later
tricycle circles  May be
 Walks on  Imitates a able to
tiptoe cross, trace a
 Balances on horizontal cross and
one-foot for and vertical copy a
a few line when square
seconds drawing
 Broad  Holds
jumps pencil or
crayon with
finger
 Scribbles or
scrawls
drawing but
can indicate
what they
are
5 years  Skips on  Can draw a

alternate stick figure
feet with arms,
 Jumps rope legs, body
 Begins to and facial
swim features
 Can trace a
cross and
copy a
square
 May be able
to draw a
triangle and
diamond
Psychosocial Development – Erik Erikson’s (Initiative vs. Guilt)

 Preschoolers play, work and live to the fullest and feel a sense of accomplishment
and satisfaction in their activities
 Play gives them the opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills through
initiating activities
 Preschooler easily interacts with other students
 They make up games and plan activities and initiate them with other
children
 A sense of initiative is developed when the child is allowed to do these
activities and feel secure in their ability to lead others and make
decisions
 A sense of guilt is developed when the pre-schooler is criticised OR
controlled
 Preschoolers begin to ask a lot of questions
 If questions asked are seen as unimportant, nuisance or embarrassing by
parent they child will feel a sense of guilt for being a nuisance.
 A sense of rivalry develops between the child and the same-sex parent
 The child may think of ways to get rid of the interfering parent
 This contest is resolved when the child strongly identifies with the same-sex
parent and peers during school years
o If the persons die before the identification process is completed,
the child can become overwhelmed with guilt for having wished
and ‘caused’ the death
 Supergo and conscience begins to develop to end of toddlerhood
 They are aware of appropriate behaviour through reward and punishment
but do not understand why an act is wrong or right
 Preschoolers are now able to understand verbal enforcement limits for
example ‘Do not run into the street’
Psychosexual Stages – Sigmund Freud (Phallic or Oedipal Stage)

 Theory states that conflict arises in boys when they realize that their father is
stronger than them and more powerful
 Subconsciously, he wishes that they father would die so he could marry his
mother (Oedipus complex)
 Realizes that there are physical sexual differences mainly that boys have a
penis and girls do not and believes that the girl’s penis must have been cut
of because of some wrong doing and fear that theirs would also be cut off
for their negative thoughts resulting in the castration complex
 Girls also have similar wishes to marry their fathers and kill their mothers
(Electra complex) subconsciously
 Do not fear that their vagina will be cut out, rather, they have penis envy
where they wish they had a penis
Cognitive Development- Jean Piaget (Preoperational Phase)

 Comprises Preconceptual phase (2 – 4 years old) & Intuitive thought
 Main transition through this phase is the change from egocentric thinking
to social awareness and the ability to consider other viewpoints
 Egocentricity remains evident
 Can think and verbalize their mental processes without having to act out
their thinking
 Can only think of one idea at a time
 Believe that everyone thinks like them and understand what they mean
from a brief explanation
 Preschoolers had egocentric verbal communication
 Understanding the child is best done through non verbal approaches
o At the age it is play, no matter the type
 Preschoolers use language but do not understand the meaning of the words
 Mostly concepts like left & right, causality and time
 They may only know that its is morning because they must get ready for
school but if they do not have to go school, they do not know when it is
morning
 Preschoolers thinking is described as magical thinking
 Believe that their thoughts are powerful and can make things occur
Moral Development
 Comprises the punishment and obedience orientation phase (2 – 4 years old)
& naïve Instrumental Orientation phase (4 – 7 years) in which actions are
directed toward satisfying their needs and less commonly, the needs of other
 They have a concrete sense of justice and fairness during this period
Socialization
 Separation – individuation process is completed
 Fear strangers and separation from parents less
 Still require parental security, reassurance, guidance and approval
 Prolonged separation is difficult for child still so anticipatory preparation
should be done and concrete explanation should be given
Language
 3 – 4 year olds uses telegraphic speech which is forming sentences of approx.
3 – 4 words that include only the words most essential to convey meaning
between
 3-year-old uses plurals, correct pronouns and past tense of verbs
 4 – 5 year olds form sentences of approx. 4 – 5 words
 They use prepositions, adjectives, and a variety of verbs
 6-year-olds use all parts of speech correctly, except for deviations from the rule
 Describes an object based on what it is made of
 Knows some opposites
 Define simple objects describing use, shape and general category of
classification
Play
 Play is associative ( group of children participate in similar OR identical
activities without formal organization, group direction, group interaction OR
a definite goal
 Play activities that aid in physical growth and refinement of motor skills include:
1. Jumping, running, climbing
2. Riding tricycles
3. Sports equipment
4. Wagons
5. Sandboxes
6. Swimming
7. Alphabet & number flash cards
8. Large blocks of different sizes and shapes
9. Counting frames
10.Simple carpentry tools
11.Musical toys
 *One activity per year of age*
 *Imaginative, imitative and dramatic play such as dress-up, house keeping
toys telephones, medical kits are BEST for pre-schoolers and aid in self-
expression
 Near the end of preschool year, the child is not satisfied with pretend objects
or make-believe and want to do the real thing
 Imaginary companions appear between 2 ½ - 3 years old
o Girls have imaginary companions
o Boys impersonate characters
Fears
 Has the most real and imagined fears during this period
 May fear the dark, being left alone (mostly bedtime), animals (mostly large
dogs and snakes), ghosts, castration as well as objects & persons associated
with pain
 Place life like qualities on inanimate objects (animism) causes them to fear
objects
 Have a fear of losing their body parts (annihilation) due to their inability to
understand the concept of size
 May develop parent - induced fears
 By age 5 – 6, most of the child’s fears are gone
Nutrition
 Foods choices should contain adequate energy to promote growth and
development BUT prevent the development of obesity
 Calorie requirements continue to decrease slightly to 90 kcal/ kg for an
average daily intake 1800 calories
 Fluid requirements decrease slightly to 100ml/kg/day
 May vary depending on activity level, climate conditions and state of health
 Protein requirements increase with age, 13 – 19 g/day
 Fiber requirements should equal child’s age plus 5 in grams per day in children >
2-years-old
 Calcium requirements 1 – 3 years old is 500 mg/day and 4 – 8 years old is 800
mg/day
 Milk OR dairy intake does not have to be lowered to prevent consumption of
too much fats, you just must use lower fat options
 100 % fruit juice consumption should be 4 – 6 oz /day for 1-6 years old
Sleep & Activity

 Sleep approx. 12 hours at nights and take infrequent naps during day BUT it
may vary
 Normal for pre-schooler to wake during the night
 Most sleep disturbances occur during preschool-hood
 Activity level is high as they learn new games & sports, interact with others
and explore their environment
Dental Health
 All deciduous teeth should have been erupted
 Still require assistance with brushing teeth

Growth & Development of A Preschooler

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Preschooler period (3 – 5 years old)

Growth – Slows & stabilizes

Weight increases 2 - 3 kg / year (4.5 – 6.5 lbs)

Gross & Fine motor skills

5 years  Skips on  Can draw a

Psychosocial Development – Erik Erikson’s (Initiative vs. Guilt)

Psychosexual Stages – Sigmund Freud (Phallic or Oedipal Stage)

Cognitive Development- Jean Piaget (Preoperational Phase)

Sleep & Activity

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